Even though you have instructed to build your structure with the best material in the world, you cannot put a full stop to its ageing signs. Instead, you can keep an eye on the signals it gives through different maintenance approaches. However, with many options in the construction landscape, what would be the best type of facility maintenance for your property?
This article covers all six types of building maintenance approaches, explaining their hidden characteristics.
What is Building Maintenance?
- Building maintenance or property maintenance is the mechanism that constructors implement to make sure the building’s structural integrity is up to expectations. This is a massive process as the maintenance of a residential facility ranges various stages from cleaning, organising, to maintaining electrical systems, etc. The building upkeep is a strategic focus to guarantee that the occupants are safe and comfortable while giving a boost to the building’s value.
- When a building and maintenance company initiates their workflows, it spreads across a large domain, such as cleaning public areas, repairing damaged elements, and conducting screenings for weak areas, etc. It is also a responsibility to maintain the facility’s electrical, heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. This is not limited to indoors, but they must ensure the upkeep efforts are directed towards managing gardens, irrigation systems, and landscaping, balancing customer comfort and property value improvement.
The 6 Types of Building Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance reduces the need for significant repairs by identifying and fixing more small problems than the other six categories of maintenance. As you can see, this kind includes elements of every other kind of upkeep.
For instance, depending on how old the equipment is, maintenance checkups can vary. The process could turn into more of a preset maintenance method while it is new. Yet, as it matures, you will require more regular physical and data-based checks to save small performance problems from developing into more serious and expensive fixes.
For example, let’s take the HVAC system’s regular upkeep. When preventive maintenance is involved, you can ensure that there is no sand or grit inside the casing or leaves obstructing the air intake.
Considering the costing aspect, you must expect to spend extra for manpower to ensure that equipment checks take place on time. However, you certainly have the potential to reduce those additional labour expenses by avoiding significant repairs. When you notice a significant rise in energy consumption from equipment that is not performing at its best, preventive maintenance aids in advanced problem-solving.
However, it will lead to the early prevention of some major repairs, closing the road for emergency repairs, extending the lifecycle by reducing wear and helping with low energy consumption costs.
Corrective Maintenance
The maintenance company begins working as soon as an issue arises. This is what is known as corrective maintenance and is also commonly referred to as corrective maintenance. The sole purpose of the concept is to restore systems to normal operation as soon as possible. The most distinguishing feature of corrective maintenance is that it eliminates the need for a routine maintenance framework. It is preventive vs. corrective maintenance, as there must be an issue before initiating upkeep.
For example, when a company opt to repair an HVAC unit rather than maintain it only after data indicates that it is not functioning up to the right levels, it is when corrective maintenance comes in.
The whole concept lies on the principle that maintenance only takes place when a problem is identified, since there is no routine maintenance programme to avoid breakdowns. However, in this matter, the repairs may be a little more costly, but they are still significantly less expensive than hiring a staff to perform routine equipment maintenance.
As a result, the company will witness a significant Decrease in monthly maintenance expenditure; they no longer have to allocate time and other resources for that regularly, and they can only focus on non-critical elements. This is why it is popular as a more straightforward maintenance process.
Predetermined Maintenance
Predetermined maintenance follows a plan of action developed by the manufacturer of the equipment. As you can see, this is a different concept from the above-mentioned two regimes, as these scheduled maintenance carried out by a maintenance team.
For example, when a company purchase a machine, the manufacturer will inform that the oil changes will occur every four months. The manufacturers give a good understanding of what is going on with the machine’s upkeep, indicating that transmission servicing will occur after a certain number of hours of operation. After one year of service, the customer has to check for wear in these specific parts, etc.
Even if the machine has been sitting inactive for four months, the company has to replace it. They plan the maintenance based on consumption, not functionality. Another example is when smart data shows a decline in production components like HVAC, pipelines, motors, etc, this means there is a necessity for maintenance. This is where the predetermined maintenance transitions into predictive maintenance, which involves data reporting for concerns.
Predetermined maintenance regimens often have a minimal cost. Everything is planned, so you can prepare for part purchases and maintenance duties.
Condition-Based Maintenance
We can say that condition-based maintenance sticks to what its name suggests. This means it concentrates on results via observation or measurement. Machines have a variety of usual working conditions. Within this range and the operation is permissible. When the numbers hit the range boarders, there will be a necessity for building upkeep.
Imagine your inspection machine’s light suddenly illuminates. When this occurs, you know it indicates that something is out of the ordinary and that maintenance is required. The identical procedure might take place at a firm with equipment that self-monitors using smart technology or physical inspections.
The total cost of condition-based maintenance is affordable. Plus, as benefits, this offers fewer downtimes, lower levels of energy consumption, enhanced productivity, etc.
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is a more advanced method of carrying out maintenance chores that solely relies on streaming data. When the IoT system captures data coming from the device and it shows when maintenance is important. In another way, the building maintenance company can predict when the breakdown will occur by analysing the data.
When a maintenance company inspect an air conditioning system, they can see that the temperature on the machine or in the environment exceeds the safe parameters established by the manufacturers. When the inside temperature of a data centre’s server room rises beyond a certain threshold, sensors in the room send out a warning.
Predictive approach helps level up product quality, while keeping in touch with weather-related machine failures. It also supports higher performance and enhanced client satisfaction at the end.
Reactive Maintenance
Reactive maintenance, often known as urgent maintenance, is a maintenance system that responds to machine or system failures. The repairs can be done in-house, by the manufacturer, or by a mix of in-house maintenance and manufacturer personnel. In contrast to preventative maintenance, response maintenance occurs when the company sees a breakdown.
It might look to be a waste of money to neglect other types of maintenance before machinery or equipment malfunctions. However, reactive maintenance does provide some cost savings.
Understanding What Building Maintenance Type Serves Your Industrial Purpose
As there are many types of building maintenance in the picture, it might be challenging to select the best fit for your construction company or the infrastructure. If you collaborate with an industry expert for a robust software implementation, it helps you to keep in touch with your assets 24/7 through Artificial Intelligence, Predictive Maintenance, IoT and other advanced technologies. If you expect the safest building in the world, hold hands with the best in the market.
